Generally, flash memory devices are used widely because of their low costs and ability to retain data when power is shut off. Moreover, they are rewritable many times and use a block erase technique as opposed to EEPROM's. Consequently, flash memories devices are often used inside apparatuses for storing applications and/or other data, such as inside handhelds and cell phones.
However, the in-circuit programming of such flash memory devices by known conventional techniques requires at least approximately 2.5 minutes of programming time for each megabyte of data.
In particular, during the development of new applications or corresponding programs, during the production phases and/or even in case of the updating or upgrading of an existing application and/or implemented software, it is often the case that the respective program changes to be made are small relative to the entire flash size. Conventional flash programming techniques however, generally reprogram the entire flash device at one time or successively, for example sector after sector or block after block to which the flash memory device usually is divided. As a result, the rewriting or reprogramming of the flash memory device is slow no matter how small the actual change may be.
For example, current mobile phones contain flash memory devices up to four megabytes in size, which represents a total programming time during any development, production and/or upgrading phases of approximately ten minutes.